2009 Powers Champoux Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Well, it's been a long and arduous couple of weeks, so tonight I've decided to relax a bit.  You see, I just got back from vacation in Europe, and on that trip it seems I had a small stroke.  Nothing to be too concerned about, as I'm not paralyzed or anything like that.  It seems it was about 1 cm deep in the brain near the area that controls motor function on my right side, so the main symptom was waking up in the morning and not being able to control my right arm or leg.  So being a stupid guy, I just assumed I slept on them awkwardly, and that it was most likely due to the rather hard bed at the hotel where I was staying.  It wasn't until I arrived at another hotel in another city that I realized there was more to this.  So after a few days in the hospital in Zurich, I arrived home, thankful that I wasn't in the cargo hold on the flight back!

So what does this have to do with wine?  Well, first wine is about enjoying life, and it's impossible to enjoy life if you're not among the living.  So whoever you are, if you are in your 30s or 40s and still have this idea that you're invincible, stop kidding yourself.  If you notice strange happenings when you wake up or anytime, don't just hope it will go away, and don't make excuses for what it could be, just get checked out by a medical professional!  I was very lucky that I got past my stupidity.  The second thing this has to do with wine is that I will see my American doctors tomorrow and they may tell me I can no longer drink wine (let's hope not!) or that I may have to cut back on wine or some other thing, leading to a reduced number of posts on my blog.  We'll take that news as it comes, but until then, I've enjoyed a nice 2009 Powers Champoux Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon this evening!

This wine has a lovely deep, inky purple color in the glass.  The nose is a lovely combination of leather, cherry, ripe plum and a bit of floral essence.  The taste is very pleasant throughout, from the initial burst of ripe berries and plum, to the smoke and mineral flavors that come through midpalate.  This finish is quite nice, with some nicely structured tannins and supple mouthfeel that provide the foundation for a long, exceptionally dry finish.  This is the type of wine that you are really happy to spend time with, sipping on the patio on a late summer afternoon, hoping the sun will never slip down beyond the trees.

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 8.5 as I really like this one, and it was a fairly decent value as well at under $20.  Tonight I am pairing this with a pan seared Scottish salmon filet with a lemon dill sour cream sauce (this was a Tyler Florence recipe on Foodnetwork.com that I highly recommend), some linguine with garlic and some steamed broccoli.  So we'll see what the doctor says tomorrow, but until then enjoy a nice dinner and a glass of wine!